


The Sound of Silence

by The_Wandering_Ace



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Angst, Blood and Gore, How Do I Tag, Hurt/Comfort, I'm Bad At Tagging, Mild Gore, Mouth Sewn Shut, Needles, Panic Attacks, Past Relationship(s), Sewing, Sympathetic Deceit Sanders, Torture, Unresolved Emotional Tension, Vomiting, Warning: Deceit Sanders, improper use of sewing supplies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-18
Updated: 2019-07-30
Packaged: 2019-08-25 08:29:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16657657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Wandering_Ace/pseuds/The_Wandering_Ace
Summary: After failing to successfully take Patton's place and convince Thomas to lie, Deceit is less than welcome back to the dark side of Thomas's mindscape. The others show him what happens when a side fails to do their job.I don't know how to tag as this is my first AO3 fix so here are the warningsWarnings: Sympathetic Deceit, unnamed dark sides, cursing, needles, inappropriate use of sewing supplies, light gore and blood, bodily liquids, (sort of) graphic violence, panic attacks, mention of vomit





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a pretty dark angst fix right here but I don't know if it's too graphic??. It's been maybe seven years since I've written anything so it might not be the greatest either. I didn't name any of the other dark sides in this fic because we don't know much about them. I hope it isn't too confusing.
> 
> Warnings: Sympathetic Deceit, unnamed dark sides, cursing, needles, inappropriate use of sewing supplies, light gore and blood, bodily liquids, (sort of) graphic violence, panic attacks, mention of vomit

Deceit knew he wasn't well liked by either the light sides or the dark sides. Despite knowing this, the snake-like side foolishly went back to the dark sides’ common room after his failed attempt at impersonating Patton. As per usual, the dull living room was dead silent and empty.

A chill ran down Deceit’s back but he tried his best to ignore the slight fear that crept up his spine. Whether it was from the eerie atmosphere or the thought of the other dark sides he wasn't sure. He knew the others wouldn't be happy with him after the stunt he had just pulled. He waited a tense moment, expecting one of them to jump out of the shadows and attack him. When nothing happened, Deceit let out a relieved sigh and retreated to the safety of his room. Maybe if he was lucky the others would just ignore the terrible attempt he had made to convince Thomas to lie and in doing so, accidentally revealing himself and the existence of the other sides.

It was stupid of him to not expect some sort of punishment for what he had done. It had been a few days since the incident and Deceit had let his guard down. He should have known that whatever the other dark sides were planning, that it wouldn't be immediate; that they were waiting for him to let himself relax. It was that mistake that led to himself being forcefully dragged out of his room with his hands tied behind his back, down the stairs, and into the living room.

He was roughly thrown onto the wobbly dining room table. Before the deceitful trait could struggle, he was pushed back down onto the wooden surface and held there by the two younger dark sides. Deceit tried to break free from the hold but when the one at his feet threateningly began to press his knee into the socket painfully he stilled. There wasn't a way out of this, he knew. Once they had broken the locks on his door this game began and it would only be over once he was satisfied.

It was amazing, really, the dark sides rarely left their rooms, so for all of them to be in the commons together was special. Deceit dreaded the kind of special that brought them all together this time.

A low chuckle came from his right. He could see the one that “leads” the dark sides in the kitchen looking through the drawers giddily. Looking for what he didn't know but he had a feeling he wouldn't like the answer either. The side holding him down by his shoulders giggled madly and began a broken stream of words that Deceit could only try to place back together.

“So much fun Dee! We're gonna have so much fun! I can hardly stand it.!”

A slam came from the kitchen and Deceit figured whatever the other was looking for had been found. The leading side came waltzing into the room twirling a small travel sized sewing kit in his hands. The grin on his face only widened when he looked at Deceit.

“That's right. We're going to have lots of fun, ” he tilted his head to look down at the lying side and purred, “Isn't that right Deceit?”

The trapped side glared at the other, “I _can't_ wait. Perhaps we _shouldn't_ skip this part and let me go?”

Deceit winced as the side at his shoulders dug their nails into his shirt. The other frowned and huffed before the smirk returned. He could still see the nearly unrestrained anger in the other’s eyes.

“Now that's the spirit, Dee! Always so excited for the best part I see.”

Deceit panicked, and he tried to struggle out of the others’ grip once again. The consequences included bruised collar bones and a pair of bony elbows digging into the soft spots of his ankles to keep him down.

“You know that's _totally_ what I meant!”

The leading side strolled up to the table and bent down so he was eye level with Deceit. He snarled in Deceit’s face,

“I don't care what you meant you lying piece of shit. I'm tired of hearing the lies that come out of your mouth. Let's fix that.”

The side pulled himself onto the table on top of Deceit and sat squarely on his chest. The pressure knocked the air out of his lungs and he wheezed painfully. He nodded to the side at his shoulders.

“Keep him still. We wouldn't want to spoil the fun now would we?”

The hands holding Deceit down by his shoulders moved to lay a heavy arm against his neck and he gagged against it.

The dark side sitting on his chest huffed in amusement before unzipping the sewing kit in his hands. He pulled a needle from the packaging and waved it in front of Deceit’ wide eyes. He threaded the needle slowly, making the other side panic more as he realized what was about to happen.

“Please. _Do_ this.” He whimpered against the arm at his throat. Deceit’s jaw was grabbed painfully by the side on top of him and held still against his will. The anger from before gleamed in the side’ eyes and a wicked smirk pulled against his lips.

“Oh, I'm going to. And I'm going to enjoy every minute of it Deceit.”

The fingers that held his jaw tightened and Deceit could feel the tears leak from his mismatched eyes as the needle drew closer to his lips.

Deceit cried out as the cold needle entered his bottom lip, piercing a clean hole through his skin. He flinched again as it entered through the top and going back and forth. The side pulled harder at the thread when Deceit made a sound and watched fascinated by the blood that pooled at the holes and leaked down the lying side's face and neck. The side kept working, roughly pulling Deceit’s face back into place whenever he tried to curl away from the pain. Slowly but surely he was unable to open his mouth without the thread pulling and tearing at his sore lips. The thread was cut and tied into a tight knot against his mouth.

The side grinned and set the needle and thread back into the kit before roughly patting Deceit's face. His mouth tried to pull open to cry out but was stopped by the bloody stitches. No sound exited from his closed mouth. The lower half of his face was covered in salty tears, mucus, and blood.

The side pushed off of Deceit and dropped from the table. He cleaned up the kit and tucked it into his back pocket. He looked at the injured side with disgust and sneered,

“Let him go. No point in wasting time with a useless side.”

The two other dark sides released their hold on him and ventured back to their rooms. Deceit watched them go with watery eyes. The main dark side wasn't done with him, however. He pulled him off of the table by his collar and held him in front of the doorway to the kitchen as he spoke,

“I hope you learned your lesson. Maybe think before you speak next time, ” the side laughed as Deceit choked against the hold. “Oh wait, I guess that won't be necessary now.” He let go of the other and let him fall before disappearing to his own corner of Thomas’s mind.

Deceit fell to the floor, no longer being held up by the dark side’s leader. He choked, trying to breathe from his mouth as his nose was clogged from crying. His body was shaking from shock and pain. His face was a mess and his hands were still tied behind his back. He took a short breath from his nose and gagged on it. His eyes widened and he tried and failed to gasp in air. He wasn't seeing, he wasn't processing, the only thing going through his head was panicked static. He tried to open and move his mouth and when that failed he tried to move his hands to claw at the stitches. His shoulders jerked as he pulled uselessly against his restraints. He continued to choke on short breaths of oxygen and saliva as his thoughts went haywire. He could feel acid crawling up his throat as no air entered his lungs and his body sent itself into a haze.

_Oh no, he was going to throw up. He was going to throw up and there would be nowhere for it to go. He was going to choke and die because of the dark sides. Could sides even die? What would happen to Thomas if he died? What would the light sides do if he accidentally hurt Thomas? He would never hurt Thomas on purpose. He loved Thomas. The light sides didn't know that but maybe Virgil still remembered. Virgil. Virgil could help him. If Virgil didn't hate him. Oh God, what would he do if Virgil hated him? He needed Virgil-_

_He couldn't breathe-_

_**Virgil**_.

Deceit didn't feel himself sink down out of the dark side of Thomas’s mind and into the light sides common area nor did he hear the sharp gasp that came when he collapsed against the ground. His vision showed black spots and he felt the ground underneath him shake as people approached him.

_Was this how he was going to die?_

His vision faded and his body went limp as he fell unconscious, blood still smeared across the lower half of his face and his hands still tied behind him.

**_“Deceit!!”_ **


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Deceit enters the light sides common unconcious. Patton finds him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings(If I've missed any let me know!): Sympathetic Deceit, body horror, sewn mouth, panic attacks, ANGST,
> 
> Word count: 1,348

The deceitful trait collapsed against the carpeted floor outside of the light sides’ kitchen, startling the side that was baking in the kitchen. Patton jumped at the sound of something hitting the ground and quickly set down his whisk to check out the suspicious sound.

**_“Deceit!!”_ **

Patton crouched next to the unconscious side and lightly shook his shoulder. There was no response from the other. Patton frowned, it had been a little while since he'd seen the snake-like trait. The others had been pretty angry with Deceit for trying to take Patton's place after all. He reached for the dark side’s shoulders to pull him up and rest him against the wall. 

He gasped in horror as he saw the bloody stitches that adorned the other’s face. They were grotesque and crude in how they were done, almost sloppy looking. No doubt that they were fresh and caused the other a lot of pain. The entire bottom half of Deceit’s face was covered in his blood with tear tracks drawing reddish pink paths through the dark red. His nose was red and fresh tears still clung to his lashes. Patton’s frown darkened, he figured Deceit sunk out of the dark side's commons as soon as he possibly could to get away from the others. He knew that the dark sides had their own way of doing things but this was going too far. 

He clicked his tongue in disapproval of the belt that was crudely holding his wrists together. He went to reach around and untie them, but pulled back when he felt Deceit tense against him.

The pressure against his already hurting collarbone caused Deceit to jerk awake and inhale sharply. His wide mismatched eyes looked at Patton fearfully, little recognition for the moral side in them. The side tried to speak, to sneer, tried to get words to form and pass through unmoving lips but failed. Worried sounds passed from his throat and his shoulders again jerked in their bonds to scratch at the thread sewn into his lips. He fearfully looked back to Patton and pressed against the wall, trying to make himself smaller. He didn't know what this side would do to him. He knew what the dark sides were capable of, knew what lengths they would go to, but the light sides were different. They could be even worse than the dark sides for all Deceit knew! He couldn't recognize which one it was either, his vision was too blurry, but he couldn't scrub at his eyes because of the restraints. Damn the fact that they all looked the same! 

Patton tried his best to soothe the other. He lifted his hands, palms up and hummed, 

“It's okay Deceit, I got you. No one is going to hurt you, okay kiddo? You need to breathe for me.” 

The lying side shook his head frantically, a pained whimper pulling itself from his throat. He couldn't trust what this one said! He couldn't trust what anybody said! He let his guard down for a moment and look at what had happened because of it.  He tried to push himself deeper into the wall as if he could disappear from Patton's sight completely. Every time he tried to make a sound it pulled further at the stitching, tearing at the skin of his lips more. Blood steadily continued to drip down his chin. The sight of it made Patton sick. 

The parental side sighed and looked at Deceit sadly, “It's gonna be okay kiddo. I got you, Patton’s got you. You gotta let me take a look at that though. You need to trust me here.” 

Deceit blinked once, then twice and shook his head to try to clear the tears from his eyes. Patton could see the recognition forming in the snake side’s eyes. If he had to guess, Patton would say it was from the mention of his name. The dark sides didn't use their names ever. It meant that they didn’t trusted the others enough to use them. He watched as Deceit relaxed his shoulders and gave a short jerky nod. Patton wouldn't hurt him, right? He didn't think the modal side would stoop so low as to hurt him while he was already down. 

Patton gave him a small smile and stood. As he walked back into the kitchen for a bowl of warm water and a soft dishcloth he announced what he was doing as to not startle the other side once again. He returned and set the bowl carefully onto the floor with the dishcloth before taking a seat next to it. He motioned for Deceit to lean forward. The other reluctantly did so.

As Patton reached behind the other to undo the belt around his wrists he spoke calmly to him, “I'm going to untie your hands now Deceit, and then I'm going to wash off all that sticky blood. It'll make you feel better I promise.” He felt the injured side nod against his shoulder and then wince as his stitches brushed against Patton’s shirt. The moral side hummed reassurances as he undid the hooks of the belt. 

He felt Deceit relax against him as his arms were released from his back. Deceit pulled away from the other and Patton had to quickly grab the other’s hands from pulling and scratching at his face. 

“No no no buddy, none of that now. You'll only hurt yourself some more. Let me take a look at it okay?” 

Deceit stilled and shrunk back, eyes going from Patton’s to the ground. He nodded once and pulled his hands from Patton’s grip. He set them in his lap, but Patton could see him restlessly clench and unclench them. 

Patton sighed again and dunked the dishcloth into the bowl of water. He carefully wrung out the material and refolded it. He looked towards Deceit and gave the other an uneasy smile.

“I'll make this as quick as possible. Sound good?” 

He waited for Deceit to nod before moving the cloth towards the other's face. Deceit jerked back when the warm wet cloth touched his swollen face. Another pained whimper lulled itself unwillingly from his throat and he squinted from the pain. 

Patton continued to murmur comforting words as he worked the cloth slowly and carefully around the stitching. He wiped around Deceit’s nose and the other took in a clear breathe giving the other side a thankful look. He rinsed out the cloth turning the bowl’s water a murky pink before continuing. He made sure to take great care around the swollen looking holes and clean off all of the blood. 

Deceit’s hands continued to twitch as he tried to resist clawing at the threads. He couldn't speak.  _ He couldn't speak. He couldn't lie.  _ **_He couldn't protect Thomas_ ** _.  _ What was the use of a side that couldn't perform their duties? 

As the lying side’s panic continued to silently grow, Patton finished cleaning the other's face. After he placed the dirty dishcloth back into the bowl, he looked up to check on Deceit and saw the wide blank look place itself on the other's feature. He took Deceit’s hands into his own and squeezed. The other side blinked and looked down as he was pulled out of his nervous thoughts.

“Hey don't worry about it. We’ll find a way to fix this. When Logan gets down here, I'll see what we can do about those nasty stitches.” 

Deceit stared at Patton, amazement in his mismatched eyes. He twisted the other's hand that was holding his own so that Patton's palm was face up. Patton watched as he took a shaking hand and traced three letters into his soft skin. 

**_...W...h...y…_ **

**_Why?._ **

Patton looked at Deceit with a sad sort of sympathy, “Because, Kiddo, even though you've done some bad things in the past no one deserves this.  _ You don't deserve this. _ ”

And if Patton had to clean Deceit's chin and cheeks again because he pulled the stitches from crying so hard then that would have to stay between the two of them. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Real quick in case anybody was wondering, when Deceit is writing he doesn't have to lie so none of the bolded texts are lies. He's speaking the truth. 
> 
> Again, if i missed any warnings let me know.
> 
> Word count: 2,000

After Patton had cleaned Deceit's face for the second time, he led the other side to the couch to sit down. He watched sadly as Deceit hesitated before taking a seat on the piece of furniture. Once the side had gotten comfortable, he looked toward Patton expectantly. What were they supposed to do now? Patton sensed Deceit's unease and sighed,

“I'm afraid that's all I can do right now kiddo. We're gonna have to wait for the others to get down here so Lolo can take a look at those stitches.”

With that, Patton left Deceit in the livingroom to clean up the bowl he left on the floor and the mess that he had previously been working on in the kitchen. He dumped the bloody water before setting the bowl quietly into the sink. The moral side glanced at the counter, eyeing  the dry pancake mix he was going to make he and the others for breakfast until Deceit showed up injured. Luckily none of the ingredients were mixed together yet so Patton merely put them away. 

He stood in the kitchen, contemplating his choices. Obviously he couldn't send Deceit back to the dark sides; not after what had happened to him. He didn't know how the others would react to the lying side being in the mindscape though. The others were still angry at Deceit's attempt to replace him. Would they think it was a trick set up by the dark side? How and why would he try to pull a stunt like this? Patton shook his head; he knew Deceit had no choice in this. He remembered what the dark sides were like before Deceit hid them away for Thomas's sake. 

Patton glanced into the living room and watched as Deceit curled into a tight ball on the couch. He watched as the other raised his gloved hands to pick at the stitches before freezing halfway and dropping his hands back into his lap. The tension didn't leave the other's shoulders however. He almost looked like he was waiting to get yelled at for the mistake. It made Patton want to cry. 

It was obvious to Patton that Deceit didn't have a good history with the other dark sides and he knew that the other light sides didn't like him either. While they had good reason to not like the other, Patton had already made up his mind. He was going to make sure this side was okay. He was a part of the famILY after all whether the others agreed with him or not. 

With that in mind Patton nodded his head to himself determinedly. He moved to leave the kitchen and noticed the whiteboard that hung on the refrigerator. With his lips being sewn, Deceit would have a hard time communicating. The board would be helpful so Patton pulled it and a dry erase marker from the fridge before joining Deceit in the living room. 

As soon as he entered the room, Deceit snapped his head up and watched him cautiously. He had a feeling this was something the other side was used to doing. He gave the other a smile and set the board down on the coffee table in front of him. 

“To help you talk until Logan gets down here.” 

Patton explained, picking at the paws of his sweater. He panicked, hoping Deceit didn't think he was insulting him or taking it the wrong way. 

The other eyed him equally as nervous for a moment before reaching out and snatching the board up before Patton could change his mind to let the other 'speak’. He uncapped the marker and wrote out something before quickly recapping it. He refused to make eye contact with Patton as he flipped the board around so the moral side could see. 

**_Thank you._ **

Patton clapped his hands together and smiled, startling  the other with the loud noise. Deceit jumped at the noise but had a feeling that it would be a habit with the moral side making loud noises. Loud noises usually meant danger but he didn't think this one would hurt him. Not intentionally at least. He wasn't sure about the others yet. 

“No problem Kiddo!” 

The moral side took a seat in front of him on the coffee table where the board previously sat. He was still smiling at him too. It wasn't like he could return it; everytime he moved the bottom half of his face, pain blossomed across it. He wondered what the other would want in return for cleaning him up and giving him a means of communication. He wrote this thought out on the board and showed the other. His shoulders tightened as the smile slipped off Patton's face.  _ Oh no, had he upset him? He didn't mean to. He was trying to be good _ .  _ He didn't want to be in debt to the light sides is all.   _

Deceit quickly erased the board, and erratically wrote out with shaking hands-

**_I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to._ **

-only to fumble with the marker and drop it as Patton pulled his gloved hand into his. He looked into the other's tear-filled eyes and his heart dropped into his stomach.

_ Oh no he made him cry, he didn't mean to, don't hurt him, don't send him back to the dark sides, please,  _ **_please._ **

Patton gripped his hands so tightly that the marker and board fell out of his hands,

“Deceit. Deceit listen to me honey. I don't want anything in return. I will never ask you for something in return for something like this. You don't have to pay me back for this, for anything.” 

Deceit didn't look like he understood.  _ He owed the other nothing? How was that possible? The others always made him pay them back one way or another.  _ Patton sighed sadly and pulled his hands back to wipe away his tears. Deceit was astounded as the other gave him yet another albeit watery smile. How could this side be so nice? 

“The others really did a number on you, huh?” Patton gave a humorless chuckle. “Guess that explains why you wanted Thomas to notice you so badly. To get away from them?” 

Deceit was getting really tired of this back and forth game of feeling safe with Patton only to feel like that safety net was ripped right from under him whenever Patton called him out on things that he'd really rather not dwell on. The constant stress of it all and  _ still not being able to talk _ was making him exhausted. He would yawn if he were able to. 

Still, he nodded affirmative to Patton's question. He didn't want to 'talk’ about what kinds of things happened in the darker side of Thomas's mind.  Having the others sew his mouth shut was just the icing on the terrible cake that was his life. It's why Virgil left. Deceit tensed yet again.  **Virgil.** **_Where was Virgil._ **

He scrambled to pick up the whiteboard from the floor, startling Patton. He hastily scrawled out barely legible words on the board. After he was done he practically shoved it into the moral side's face. 

**_Where is Virgil? Is he okay?_ **

Patton read the board and looked at the deceitful side carefully. He knew the two had a history, but Virgil hadn't told him whether or not it was good or bad. The anxious side hadn't been happy when Deceit had been revealed and with how the dark sides treated each other, Patton wasn't sure if it was a good idea to tell the other about his dark strange son. But why would the other be asking if he was okay if he didn't care about the anxious side? 

Deceit saw his hesitation and deflated. He wrote another word on the board with a sad sort of desperation. 

**_...Please?._ **

Patton sighed and rubbed at the bridge of his nose. Where were the others? It was about time for everybody to be awake already. He supposed it couldn't hurt to tell the other. 

“Virgil's fine, Dee. He's in his room still asleep probably. You can see him when he comes down.” 

At that Deceit turned pale and shook his head.  _ No no no he hates me. _

**_He won't be happy to see me. He hates me._ **

Patton narrowed his eyes behind his glasses, “Why does he hate you?” 

**_I was.. Mean to him. Everybody is mean to each other down there but you see what ‘mean’ means when it comes to dark sides._ **

Deceit listlessly gestured to his face with a hand as Patton read the board. He was nervous at how Patton would react. He wouldn't throw him back into the dark side of the mindscape because of what happened years ago would he? Deceit sure hoped not. 

Patton sighed, “Well.. As much as I don't like what that means, it's up to Virgil whether or not he hates you.” 

Deceit relaxed once more at the moral side's words. Patton wouldn't yell at him or hurt him because of the past. However, luck wasn't on his side this week it seems. 

“What are you talking about pops?” 

Of course he wouldn't hear anyone coming down the stairs. Not when he was so hyper focused on Patton. And it just had to be Virgil too. 

Patton jumped up at the noise and spun around from his seat on the coffee table. He scratched at the back of his neck nervously and giggled uneasily. Luckily with his position in front of the couch and where Virgil was standing in front of the stairs, the anxious side couldn't see Deceit. 

“Virgil! Haha, Kiddo, it's good to see you! Did you sleep well?” 

Virgil narrowed his eyes at the father figure. The other was hiding something and not very well either. Virgil could feel an enormous amount of anxiety coming from where Patton was standing. 

“You're bad at lying pops. What going on?” 

Patton fiddled with the sweater paws again before sighing, 

“Oh Kiddo,” Patton pursed his lips and it only cause Virgil to worry more. Something must be seriously wrong for the moral side to be this out of sorts. “I don't know how to tell you this.” Oh that was just a  _ great _ boost for his own anxiety. 

Patton fiddled with his hands for a few seconds longer before stepping out of Virgil’s view of the couch and launching into a long spiel about what happened earlier. Virgil listened for a few seconds before his eyes caught Deceit's and he lost all attention towards the dad side. 

Deceit.

_ Deceit _ was in the light sides's living room. Again. With Patton. 

**_Deceit…_ ** the same dark side that had such a way with words and a silvertongue now had stitches sewing those deceitful lies and words into that traitorous mouth for good. 

Virgil felt laughter bubble up out of him. Whether it was from shock of seeing him once  _ again  _ after dealing with the train wreck he had caused a few days ago or the incredible irony it was to have the liar finally be silenced, he didn't know. 

He laughed hysterically at seeing the other side sitting on the light sides couch clutching a whiteboard protectively and a hurt look in his mismatched eyes. It took a moment for Virgil to be able to stop laughing and when he did he decided it was most likely shock that pulled that reaction from him. He looked at Patton and had the decency to look abashed when the father figure gave him a disappointed look. 

“Sorry, uh..” The anxious side coughed into his sleeve. “Didn't mean to laugh. Just wasn't expecting this this morning.” 

Deceit gave him a flat look, and Virgil had to swallow a grin. The other dark side finally got what was coming to him; not that Virgil would say that out loud.  Both sides watched each other uneasily. Patton sighed as he felt the tension in the room rise again. 

Where in the world was Logan? 

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil enters the fray and is not happy to see Deceit. Patton remains clueless about the tense past between the two sides.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all thought I was Dead?? Bitch me too. Wrote this at 5am and then woke up my lovely beta reader like the asshole I am because I forgot it was 5am. Let me just say too that editing this was a massive bitch as it took me 3 hours to get my laptop back online but here we are! Enjoy!
> 
> Word Count: 1,676
> 
> Warnings: Panic Attacks, Guilt, Removal of sutures, Blood mention, Virgil is not the nicest, he's not terrible but he's 100% done with the dark sides shit.   
> Let me know if I've missed any!

Both sides stared at each other from opposite sides of the living room Deceit sat on the couch, shoulders tense and barely breathing. He could feel Virgil watching him and for once he felt as anxious as the other side usually was. This was a mistake. He shouldn't have come here, he should have just hid in his room and never left. He should have had tighter locks on his door, been more aware, should have  _ prevented this! _

He felt Patton watching the two of them, the oldest side's hands wringing nervously. What could he say that would ease the tension in the room?  _ Ha. Say. Not like he could do much of that anymore.  _ Rather, what could he  _ do _ to show Virgil he wasn't a threat? That he meant no harm? 

Before the mute side could think of a solution, Virgil sighed. 

“Pat, this guy is bad news."

_ Ouch. Well not like he's wrong about that. _

Not that Virgil had to sound so sure in that statement. Not that he had to cast Deceit so readily into the darkness that he himself had strived to escape from. Not that Deceit didn't deserve it. 

Deceit heard Patton gasp from his left,

"But Virgil! We can't just send him back down there! Look at what they did!" 

Deceit winced, as if he's done any better. The dark sides were  _ all _ terrible in their own right, himself included.  _ Virgil included.  _ He shook his head,  _ but Virgil is better. He isn't like that anymore. Right?  _

He cautioned a glance towards the anxious side. His eyeliner was darker than it should have been. It had to be because of Deceit's presence. If only he hadn't made that  _ stupid mistake!! _ Virgil had left because of them, because of him. Virgil escaped the dark sides into the light where he rightfully belonged. He became better, he wouldn't fall back into bad habits just because he felt threatened by  _ Deceit _ would he? Deceit hoped not.

"Look Patton, What if the others sent him up here on purpose? We can't give them a chance to hurt Thomas." Virgil argued. Deceit flinched. That wouldn't be an incorrect assumption for the others. Oh no, what if they had  _ let _ him escape? The muted side could feel his chest tighten at the thought.  _ No no no.  _ **_No no no!_ ** He couldn't handle that. Almost as much as he couldn't handle the thought of Virgil hating him, of Patton sending him back down there, of the others getting their hands on him again, not again, Please  **_Don't!!_ **

Virgil and Patton jumped at the sound of Deceit's muffled choking. The other side was clawing at this throat, eyes unseeing as he spiraled further into fear. It was a sound Virgil hadn't heard in months and he didn't relish in hearing it once more. He was next to Deceit's side in a moment to Patton's surprise. The fatherly side could hear him talking in a hushed tone. 

"Listen to me Deceit. Listen," Virgil commanded, "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm  _ not.  _ Patton is here, he is not going to hurt you. You're in the light sides commons. Breathe." 

Despite his serious tone, the anxious side gently pulled Deceit's hands away from his neck and into his own. He continued to talk the other through his panic. 

"C'mon Dee, in for four, good. Now hold for seven, that's it. Out for eight." 

The deceitful side copied the other clumsily, and repeated Virgil's advice a few times before the far away look in his eyes faded. He realized that the other was holding his arms and jerked away from him. Virgil pulled away and sighed, 

"Look Patton, I don't like him," He shot a quick glare at Deceit, who grimaced. "And I don't trust that he isn't going to cause more trouble by being up here." 

"But Virge-" 

"But this is farther than the dark sides have gone in a while to hurt someone. We were all kind of terrible to each other down there but this," he gestured to the mangled stitching, "Wow. Something's going on down there. And You, Deceit, are going to tell us what it is."

Deceit didn't look like he was going to protest, but did look like he was going to be sick again. Patton decided that maybe there had been too much excitement for the day and it wasn't even noon. 

"Alright Virgil. If you think that's necessary, but first we have to get those stitches out. We need Logan to look at them." He sighed. 

The anxious side turned to actually fully examine the damage done to the deceitful side's face. Crouching down right in front of the other, he whistled in astonishment. 

"They sure got you good this time Dee."

Deceit tried to turn away, but Virgil grasped his face before he could. His touch was light and gentle despite the look on his face. Deceit hadn't seen that look in his eyes for a while. Since he'd turned light. Don't tell him that Virgil was enjoying this! No, Virgil was totally enjoying this and Deceit couldn't blame him. Some things can't fade no matter how long you've been away from them. A sick enjoyment and relief of someone else being the target of the day Deceit doubted would ever fade. He could feel Virgil poking and prodding at the stitches and he winced. He wished the flesh would just turn numb already. He heard Virgil sigh. 

"No need pops, I got this." He stood and stretched, hearing his knees pop from the movement. He reached for Deceit's hand and nodded towards the kitchen. 

"Let's do this where there isn't carpet. Less messy that way." 

Deceit cautiously nodded before letting himself be pulled up by Virgil. Patton followed closely behind as they settled into the kitchen. Deceit sat himself on the counter as per the anxious side's directions and closed his eyes in acceptance as he watched Virgil pull out a similar sewing kit from the same drawer the other had earlier. He refused to panic, Virgil wouldn't cause him more harm. The kitchens in the mindscape where the exact same, down to every detail of Thomas' own kitchen. This kit wasn't the one to hurt him, it  _ wasn't! He will be  _ **_fine! He trusted Virgil!_ **

The sound of the zipper made him flinch violently and Pattom was quick to his side placing his hand over Deceit's own. 

"It'll be okay kiddo. Virgil I didn't know you knew how to do something like this!" 

Virgil and Deceit both wilted a little at the statement. Virgil didn't  _ want  _ Patton to know that he had spent countless hours patching himself up; patching  _ Deceit up,  _ but he had no choice. He couldn't stand by and do nothing, not when he could do something! He wasn't like that anymore! He and Deceit had been friends at one point in time. They had watched each other's backs. And then he left. With good reason,  _ but he had left Deceit to deal with them  _ **_alone._ ** Deceit thought he hated him, and a part of him did. The part that wanted to keep the light sides to himself; to lock away the others so they could never hurt Thomas. But that had never been Deceit's goal had it? 

He had to focus, he could sort out his own emotional trauma later. Right now he had to focus on fixing Deceit's. 

Pulling the suture scissors out of the kit, Virgil shook his head to steady himself. He couldn't mess this up or else he could cause more damage. 

"Here we go Dee, one at a time."

Slowly, ever so slowly to Deceit, the tension in his jaw snapped as Virgil cut the first cord. The anxious side had to grab hold of his chin so he didn't automatically yawn and pull each thread violently through their holes. He carefully snipped through each thread, watching as rivulets started pooling at the skin again.

The lack of tension caused the other an insurmountable amount of pain. He didn't think them being removed would somehow be more painful than them being put in! 

Deceit sighed heavily through his nose as the last thread was cut and struggled to not immediately open his mouth. He waited patiently as Virgil set down the scissors and pulled a pair of tweezers from the kit. He worked meticulously to pull each binding out of the other's mouth, avoiding the tender spots. He diligently cleaned up the area while listening to Patton's stressed humming. He wiped away the blood and pus that had already started forming, wiped away the tears that had dripped from the other's eyes in the process, and carefully wiped antiseptic onto the puncture wounds. It was a thoughtless motion to Virgil, one he had done countless times, to himself, to Deceit and to the other dark sides when they came begging for him to help. It was habit, one he thought he'd grown out of, but it appears not. He was disappointed in himself, he thought he had grown out of the viciousness the dark sides had taught him, but seeing Deceit like that had proved him wrong. He had been  _ happy _ when he first saw Deceit with his mouth sewn shut; had even  _ laughed _ . Virgil couldn't believe himself, he thought he had  _ changed! _ He shook his head, he'd apologize to Deceit and get his shit together. Bad habits die hard, but he was damn sure that this one was going down, one way or another. He cleaned and put away his materials, tossing the sewing kit into the drawer it came from before looking up at Deceit. 

Deceit struggled to keep eye contact. Should he say something? Should he  _ not  _ say something? The rules were all messed up now! Virgil hated him! Why did he help him? He was so confused! Did Virgil not hate him? Before he could work himself up into another tizzy Virgil's next sentence made Deceit's skin crawl and his blood freeze. 

"We need to talk Deceit. Alone."


End file.
